1. Technical Field
Embodiments described in this disclosure generally relate to an application-level network protocol. More specifically, embodiments described in this disclosure relate to techniques for a network file system proxy to authenticate a client to multiple server systems providing shared access to resources on the server systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Common Internet File System (CIFS) and Server Message Block (SMB) standards provide data networking standards mainly used to provide shared access to files, printers, serial ports, and miscellaneous communications between nodes on a network. Other standards (e.g., NFS) provide similar capabilities. For example, CIFS may be used by a client device, such as a desktop computer, to access files from a shared folder on a remote computing system, commonly referred to as a server. CIFS allows users to access resources shared by the server system using CIFS in the same manner as resources physically attached to the client, e.g., a network drive accessed by the user in the same manner as a hard drive physically attached to the user's computer system.
Prior to accessing resources shared by a server using CIFS and SMB, users need to establish a CIFS session between the client system and the server system. Doing so typically includes a client authenticating itself to a service provider (e.g., a server configured to share files from specified folders or directories). The client supplies authenticating information (e.g., cryptographic tokens generated by the client from a username and password), and after validating the authenticating information, the server provides access to resources shared by the server.